NAMM 2026: An interview with Sam Butler and Joe Plazak

At the 2026 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

In this interview, we talk with Sam Butler, Avid’s vice president of product management, and Joe Plazak, Sibelius product owner and senior principal software developer at Avid, to reflect on the philosophy behind Sibelius’s recent development approach, how user feedback shapes prioritization, and where they believe users should most clearly feel progress compared to a year ago. We also talk about automation and AI in notation, the realities of cross-platform and mobile workflows, and what Avid wants musicians to understand about its long-term commitment to Sibelius.

Be sure to check out our other conversations from the NAMM Show from earlier this month. And as always, if you like this podcast episode, there’s plenty more for you from Scoring Notes — be sure to follow us right in your podcast player.

More about the 2026 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes:

• NAMM 2026: On the scene
• NAMM 2026: Piascore’s bet on interactivity
• NAMM 2026: John Barron opens the door to Dorico’s future
• NAMM 2026: Sounding out the inputs with klang.io’s Sebastian Murgul
• NAMM 2026: Getting into a Fender-bender with Chris Swaffer
• NAMM 2026: An avid Sibelius discussion with Sam Butler and Joe Plazak
• NAMM 2026: An interview with John Barron
• NAMM 2026: An interview with Sebastian Murgul
• NAMM 2026: An interview with Chris Swaffer